Practicing Hope on the Edge of Despair

Sunday Collect: May 22, 2022

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.

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COLLECT

A recap/summary of the week’s prayers and contemplations

MONDAY
We celebrated signs of hope in Monday Whatever list of all things true, honest, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise.

TUESDAY
We offered hope and lament for the Black community (and really all communities who live at the edges) in Buffalo NY. 

WEDNESDAY
We began Black-Eyed Bible Study series about the Pharaohs in our land. This week’s lesson was Pharaoh and The Great Replacement. 

THURSDAY
We lamented with Habbakuk and heard God’s answer. 

SATURDAY
We practiced our weekly examen of hope 

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PRAXIS

Across the country, this week has been a challenging week for practicing hope. 

I too was often tempted to despair and sometimes even allowed myself to lean over the precipice, wondering it would just be better to tumble into the dark, bottomless chasm of hopelessness. But then I remembered there are those who are helping here at the edge of hope—and I want to be with them. 

Besides prayer and lament, the greatest hope that we can practice after being hit with violence, racism, and lethal governing is to look for the helpers, support and stand with them. 

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’

Fred Rogers, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood 

So, let’s take on Mister Fred Rogers’ mother’s prescription for discouragement and look for the helpers—both past and present. 

But as adults, we must not stop there. We must look for the helpers and join them. We must become the helpers—the planters of hope—that our children and future generations are needing to find. 

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THE LORD’S PRAYER

Spirit of Life by Alex Jensen

Spirit of Life and Love, Holy God, Source Eternal, in our midst yet still ever so elusive:
To breathe your sacred name is a blessing.

Your world become, your will be done here, on Earth,
inspired by our aspirations to do and be better people.

May we have all that we need to survive, live, and thrive.

Remind us to be gentle; may we love mercy and kindness,
recalling the times when we've fallen short ourselves.

Call us to be firm; may we not be tempted to follow selfish motivations
or reside in our narrow privileges, unexamined and uninterrogated;
move us to counter and overcome evil and injustice
in ourselves, our lives, and institutions.

Yours is the Beloved Community, the fire of commitment in our hearts,
and the spirit of generosity and abundance.

Now and always.

Amen.